Forever Bound
by quel-dommage
Summary: The War is in full bloom, and Ginny is helping to heal the injured witches and wizards that appear at the Burrow.  But when Draco Malfoy is found to be cursed, she pledges to be forever bound to him to save his life.  Can she suffer the consequences?
1. Chapter 1

I hope this interests you, dear reader.

Oh, and if you don't like to read about blood, etc., DON'T READ THIS.

Because darling Ginny is a healer of sorts, so… she'll be around blood a lot.

---XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX---

It was rather quiet, something that should have disturbed Ginny Weasley, but didn't. It wasn't even dawn yet, and she was laying sleepily in her bed, cherishing the lack of noise. The Burrow, unofficial Order headquarters, had been a madhouse, ever since the War started. Madam Pomfrey, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley, were scuttling left and right, healing any, poor, bloody witch or wizard that apparated into the living room. Ginny was even forced to give up her room for any soul that needed it, instead sleeping in the makeshift hospital bay with her mother and "Poppy" (Madam Pomfrey). That way, if there was any alarm with the more critical patients, they were directly on hand.

Poppy was snoring, and Ginny couldn't be sure how she had gotten to sleep in the first place. Probably because of extreme fatigue. Sometimes, after a particularly gory battle, Ginny wouldn't have time to sleep for a day, even two, depending on the amount of patients. It was early January, the New Year having just passed in half-hearted celebration at the Burrow. The chill of the wooden floor shocked Ginny awake as she got out of bed, shuffling towards the kitchen. It was an unspoken rule; the first up was the one to cook breakfast. Sadly, it was almost always Ginny.

Fleur, as useless as healing (and cooking) as she was, had also been an extreme help, something Ginny only grudgingly admitted. She knew where every potion, every book was in the house, and could promptly retrieve them in a time even Ginny knew she couldn't manage. And usually, the blond was awake even before Ginny, although she had been banned from cooking in the Weasley kitchen. But today, Ginny was alone, and she relished it, trying to get out the pots and pans with the least noise possible.

She heard a crack as someone Apparated and was instantly alert, running to the parlor. Tonks, not visibly bleeding but very grey, was clutching at a chair, attempting a smile as she saw Ginny. The redhead immediately squired Tonks to the "hospital bay", sitting her on a bed and examining the unusually quiet woman.

"What happened?" Ginny whispered, trying not to wake the other, sleeping patient; Draco Malfoy. Not only would he be extremely cranky and difficult, but he would probably do something rash and start his bleeding again.

"I dunno… I was fighting Bellatrix," Tonks spat out the name like something dreadful, and Ginny knew why. It had been Bellatrix who had killed her cousin (first cousin, once removed), Sirius Black, and neither Tonks nor the rest of the Order had ever forgotten it.

"…and got hit with a spell. It knocked me out, and I woke up in the forest. Then I Apparated straight here." Strangely, Ginny couldn't find a single scratch or bruise on Tonks, not even an abrasion where the spell might have hit.

"What are your symptoms?" In reply, Tonks turned her head and threw up, making Ginny equally as nauseous. No matter how many times she saw others throw up, it would always make her sick. She waved her wand to clean up the mess and forced Tonks out of her heavy cloak, leaving her laying on the bed. She pawed through the potions cupboard, pouring Tonks a blue elixir that stopped her nausea.

"I'll be back…" Ginny said soothingly, taking Tonk's cloak to the cloak closet. Then, she quickly stopped into the kitchen, setting up the eggs to crack themselves and the bacon to cook, slowly luring their more permanent tenants from their sleep. First out was Remus, who was still recovering from the full moon two nights previous. She watched him eat silently, before telling him the news that was likely to upset him.

"Tonks is in the critical ward, Remus. I don't quite know what's wrong with her…" He shot up with an agility Ginny wouldn't have believed possible from so tired a man, and was out of the room in a single stride. She sighed, carefully putting his dishes into the sink. Next down was Fleur, rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly.

"'Ello, Gin…" Ginny nodded, exiting the kitchen and heading into the living room. She collapsed onto a sofa, massaging her already-throbbing head. Soft sunlight was leaking into the room through an open window, announcing the dawn of another stressful day. Poppy shuffled in, noting Ginny on the sofa and walking towards her.

"Do you know what's happened to Tonks? I saw Remus speaking with her and didn't want to intrude…"

"I have absolutely no idea. I think Bellatrix may have hit her with a curse, but there's nothing visibly wrong with her. I'll go back to her later." The dumpy nurse nodded, turning around and swishing towards the kitchen.

The next thing Ginny knew, her mother was shaking her awake, looking frazzled and irritated.

"We need you, dear… You cant fall asleep like that."

"Sorry, mum," Ginny muttered, shoving her wavy auburn hair away from her face.

"If you could do the honors…" Ginny groaned. That meant it was her turn to check on Malfoy. He always had a head-full of jabs and aggravating remarks waiting for her, probably thinking them up in his lonely cot. She didn't know why, exactly, he was in the critical ward, seeing as all he had was a small cut beneath his ribs. She suspected it was because no one wanted to deal with him.

Remus had disappeared from Tonks' side, as she appeared to be sleeping, and Ginny dragged her feet, slowly approaching an awake and sneering Malfoy.

"Ah, it's the Weaselette this morning. Try not to kill me this time." The last time Ginny had checked on him, she had nearly shoved him to the ground, he was being so annoying. She hoped she could keep her head this time.

"Why are you even here, Malfoy? Just enjoying the servitude of being an invalid?" Malfoy sneered, folding his arms across his chest. He was sitting up, conveniently without a shirt, although he had been told to wear one, and Ginny attempted not to stare. She knew he was just goading her on, sitting before her with his flawless, muscular chest bared.

"I'll have you know, I'm not an invalid. Just wounded."

"Barely even that," she muttered, taking off his small bandage to check his ever-exasperating gash. As she expected, it was bleeding, but with it being nearly the length of her finger, she didn't fret over it. She slowly poured the Sealing Potion Madam Pomfrey had made over it, watching it close and knowing that it wouldn't last. For some reason, his cut would never close, which was part of the reason he was sitting in a bed instead of out fighting. Her mum had decided that she wouldn't let him leave until his gash had stayed closed, and so far, it hadn't cooperated.

Next she put a small bit of cloth on it, which served as a bandage, putting the Sealing Potion back in the cabinet.

"I thought my mum told you to put a shirt on," she called over her shoulder, while checking to make sure all of the potions were in place.

"I know that you enjoy it, Weasley."

"For your information, no, I do not enjoy you lounging about like an oaf, trying to impress me." Malfoy scoffed, probably looking ridiculously puffed up, although Ginny had her back turned and couldn't see.

"Impress you? Hardly, darling. I much prefer the 'girl' type, not whatever you are."

"Oh, you've hurt me, Malfoy. I can feel it, like a mosquito bite. And everyone knows the only way to kill mosquitoes is to squish them in one way or another…" She said as threateningly as possible, advancing on him with her wand raised. She had an excellent Bat Bogey Hex, and perhaps now was the time to use it…

"You're going to hurt your own patient? Why, Miss Weasley, I do believe that could get you grounded for a very long time." She rolled her eyes, stalking off to talk to her mother. Why couldn't they just give him a Sealing Potion and lock him up somewhere where she wouldn't have to see him? As she rounded on the kitchen, she heard raised voices, and paused, hidden behind the wall.

"Arthur, she isn't ready. You cant possibly be proposing to send your own daughter…?"

"Yes, Molly, I am. With every injured witch and wizard Apparating here, someone is bound to find out. And then, we'll be forced to move headquarters, if you're lucky enough to survive." Molly Weasley was quiet, and Ginny waited, tensely. She desperately wanted to be out of the Burrow, even if it meant straight into the thick of the battle.

"I'm telling you, Arthur, she'll be killed! She's just a girl…" Arthur sighed, and Ginny could imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose as he always did when arguing with her mother.

"We'll have someone with her at all times. And she's a grown woman, now, Molly. Even you can't deny that. I think it's time that we give her a chance to really help the Order." A steady silence followed, as Molly fought all sensible reasoning to send Ginny off to battle. But she knew her mother would eventually see all of the lives that could be saved, and when she heard her mother sigh, she nearly jumped for joy.

"Alright… but only after Malfoy goes, too. I don't want to be the one that has to take care of him, with Ginny gone." Ginny started to laugh, then clamped a hand over her mouth, running desperately towards the critical ward. She would be murdered if her mum found out she had been eavesdropping…

She ignored Malfoy and went to Tonks, slowly inspecting her again. No visible cuts, bruises… absolutely nothing. Which was strange, seeing as she had fallen after she was hit by Bellatrix's curse… Then Tonks sat up in bed, her eyes wild. She immediately clutched at her stomach and threw up again, Ginny cleaning it up then returning her attentions to Tonks. She seemed to be suffocating slowly, and Ginny noticed her tongue was black. Ginny deftly cast a spell to reopen her throat, and Tonks took a ragged gasp of air, coughing.

"Mum!" Ginny shouted, having to cast the spell again because Tonks had stopped breathing. She lowered Tonks until she was laying down, turning to her mother's touch on her shoulder.

"She keeps suffocating… Mum, I cant keep casting this spell forever! It wont keep her alive!" True enough, seeing as Tonks' lips were growing blue, and her eyes looked glassy. Soon Poppy came rushing in, quickly assessing the situation and trying to pour a potion down Tonks' throat. She promptly threw it up again, and Ginny was shoved out of the way as Molly and Poppy tried every spell and every potion they thought would work. Then Remus came barreling in, looking at the two healers desperately.

"Can't you do _anything_?" He pleaded, gripping Tonks' hand and looking as gray as she did. Suddenly, something from a healing book Ginny had been reading the night before popped into her head. It had been talking about a certain curse that killed from the inside out, collapsing the lungs and stopping the heart. The only sign was a black tongue. And the only cure…

"Mum! Dragon tears! Where are they?" She came out of her statuesque state, her voice quavering.

"Ch..Charlie's r..room." Ginny dashed up the stairs, two at a time, crashing into Charlie's old room and looking on his desk. There, next to the dragon scales and claws was a small vial, full of a metallic gold liquid. She grabbed it, rushing back down the stairs and next to Tonks' side. Slowly, she let a drop fall into Tonks' mouth, her fingers crossed. Dragon tears, if not used correctly, were poisonous, and could kill in a matter of seconds.

Had she been right?

--XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX--

oh, loves, you know me.

I had to leave it as a cliff hanger.

Otherwise, where would the frenzied reviews be, asking me if I was going to kill Tonks? And that if I did, I would never be forgiven?

Please leave those reviews.


	2. NOTICE!

Two words.

I'M BACK.

I know, i've just had the longest hiatus ever seen on fanfiction.

And this is abusive to you, seeing as i don't really have any work at the moment, just a notice.

But i wanted you to know that new chapters are to come.. after i remember where i was going with the plots, of course.

Except for covert. Sorry, children, but that is well done with.

Send me loveee

(and best wishes)

quel.


End file.
